In this Sidra the Torah relates the events that took place in Jacob’s life on his way from MACHANAYIM to SHECHEM. Machanayim, which is a last word in the Sidra Vayetze, means ‘two camps’. Jacob gave this name because he saw two camps of angels accompanying him as he was arriving back in the land […]
In the first part of this week’s Sidra, the Torah relates that our father Jacob left his home in Beer Sheva and arrived at the place which he thought was safe and appropriate to settle down and to go to sleep. Some commentators have remarked that it is most interesting that he went to sleep, […]
The Sidra of Chayye Sarah can be divided into three distinct sections. The first section deals with Sarah’s death. The second very long section tells us the interesting and detailed story of the search and process of selection of a wife for Isaac, which was entrusted to Abraham’s loyal servant. The third section of the […]
The first story in today’s Sidra describes the visit of three angels to Abraham. They appeared to him as three idolatrous Arab men. Despite their unfamiliar appearance, Abraham invited them into his tent, most warmly and gave them a delicious meal. Abraham’s amazing kindness towards them has become a most important story in our religion, […]
Our Sidra is called Lech Lecha, which is a striking name. LECH means GO. But what does Lecha mean in this context? According to Rashi it implies that God told Abram to go for his own benefit. Nachmanides disagrees. He argues that this is simply a Hebrew expression. The pronoun ‘Lecha’ is often attached to […]
The Torah describes No’ach as a perfectly righteous person. However, some of our ancient rabbis were critical of him. They explained that, unlike Abraham, he didn’t have the strength of character and the power of persuasion to engage in arguments with his wicked neighbours and friends. He secluded himself concentrating on learning about spiritual matters […]
The Kaddish prayer was not originally associated with mourning at all. It was used in the house of learning, Beth Midrash, to conclude a session with the Rabbi. The Kaddish Derabbanan, i.e. the Rabbis’ Kaddish, is probably the earliest prayer. Its purpose was to express the hope in the messianic era when the name of […]
The colour white is central to the celebration of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The normal-coloured curtain of the Ark, Parochet, is replaced with a white curtain. The normal-coloured mantles of the Sifrei Torah are changed and covered with white mantles and the Bimah is covered with a beautiful white cloth. In many Orthodox synagogues, […]
The entire Book of Deuteronomy contains Moses’ final speeches, which he delivered during the last 37 days of his life. He began his first speech on the first of Sh’vat and concluded his last one on the seventh of Adar, which was the day he died. Rashi tells us that the speech which begins at […]
The Sidra of Shoftim is devoted to the establishment of an Israelite state. It contains a large number of Mitzvot, 73 in total. Many of those Mitzvot are major laws regarding setting up the government of the country. The Sidra begins with the appointment of judges and officers who were charged with making sure […]